WhatsApp launches video calling for one billion people. Here's how to use it

In its second major rollout this year, WhatsApp has introduced video calling to the one billion people using it.

The Facebook-owned messaging app has announced that the ability to make video calls using Wi-Fi or data connections will be coming to mobile devices around the world. The feature, which has been common on Skype, Facebook Messenger, FaceTime and Google's video messaging app Duo for some time, will work on iPhone, Android, and Windows phones - with rollout taking place over a number of days.

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"We’re introducing this feature because we know that sometimes voice and text just aren’t enough," WhatsApp said in a blog post. "We want to make these features available to everyone, not just those who can afford the most expensive new phones or live in countries with the best cellular networks."

WhatsApp says it has "received many requests" for video calling and has built its video messaging to be able to work across multiple different devices – Apple's FaceTime, for example, can only be used across its own devices. The new feature may not be a massive surprise as reports of video calling tests being incorporated into the WhatsApp Android app surfaced in October.

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The company has tried to make the video calling as simple as possible though, there are no Snapchat-style filters and the ability to draw or write on a video is not included. “We want to make sure people understand how video calls can be done," Manpreet Singh, WhatsApp’s lead engineer told WIRED US. "That’s been the model for everything we’ve developed at WhatsApp.”

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Earlier this year WhatsApp bolstered the security of its app by turning on end-to-end encryption by default for everyone using it. The encryption method means WhatsApp, as a provider, cannot access the content of messages sent between its customer - this is only available to those who have the encryption keys. The move, which in part has been followed by Google's messaging app and Facebook Messenger, saw WhatsApp being called the most secure messaging app by Amnesty International.

Google's Duo video app features end-to-end encryption for all calls made using it, as does FaceTime. WhatsApp has confirmed to WIRED that the video calling it has introduced is end-to-end encrypted by default.

However, privacy fears have remained over WhatsApp and Facebook's use of data. A change in privacy policy in September saw WhatsApp begin sharing people's phone numbers with its parent company. The move has sparked an international backlash against the way users were told: the UK's data protection regulator is investigating and has made an agreement with Facebook for the personal data sharing to be "paused"; a European Commission working group is also looking at whether the policy changes comply with EU laws.

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WhatsApp's next major feature introduction could be two-step authentication, which it is trialling in a beta version.

How to use WhatsApp video calling

The update to WhatsApp, which will be rolling out to all users around the world in the next couple of days, is easy to use.

In a WhatsApp chat, click on the phone icon in the top right-hand corner and you will be presented with the option to make a video call.

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Previously, this icon started an audio call over a Wi-Fi or data connection with the contact you were messaging: now it is possible to make a video call. By hitting the camera icon during video call it is possible to alternate between the front facing and rear-facing cameras.

It's possible to multi-task while in a WhatsApp call, you can check your other messages while the video chat continues in a smaller on-screen box. Leaving the app freezes video but transfers the call to voice.

This article has been updated to confirm WhatsApp video calling is end-to-end encrypted by default.